Detroit Tigers' Jim Leyland on Ryan Raburn: 'I've got to get him going'

AP File PhotoRyan Raburn went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Monday night and saw his average fall to .127 for the season.

SEATTLE -- Ryan Raburn went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Monday night. His average for the season fell to .127. He has two RBIs in 23 games.

But Raburn will likely be in the starting lineup Tuesday night at second base and again Wednesday night, possibly in left field.

"I'm just playing him," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said prior to the game Monday. "I've got to get him going,
and I'm going to give him the opportunity to get going. That's why he's
playing."

Raburn struck out in the third inning in his first at-bat Monday night, then lashed a line drive into the corner in left field an inning later that seemed destined to be a two-run double. But the ball landed foul by just inches. Raburn returned to the plate and ended up striking out to end the inning.

He hit a fly ball to center field in the seventh inning and struck out to end the ninth to finish 0-for-4.

Raburn is a notoriously slow starter who is hitting .219 for his career in the first half and .300 in the second half. His slugging percentage is more than 100 points higher (.497 to .379) in the second half than the first, and his OPS is almost 200 points higher (.847 to .657) after the All-Star break than it is before.

Through 71 at-bats this season, Raburn has a .169 slugging percentage and an OPS of .361. For comparison sake, Brennan Boesch has struggled to a .209 average so far this season but has much higher slugging percentage (.330) and OPS (.559) numbers than Raburn has.

Leyland knows how much Raburn can contribute when he is at his best -- "If Raburn's playing and good, then we're pretty
(darn) good," Leyland said --
and hopes that giving him regular playing time will help him get there.

"This guy's had a
pretty good track record the past two or three years. This guy does damage. He's had a lot of big home runs for us the last few years in not very many
at-bats.

"I don't know if he's going to do it, but I'm playing him."

Of course, if Raburn doesn't get it going, Leyland will eventually make a change.

"I have a lot of confidence, and I'm playing
him," Leyland said. "If he doesn't do it, at some point you do something else."